The present invention relates to airport traffic detection and control.
Airport surface traffic control at busy airports is typically handled by human controllers, sometimes with the aid of a surface radar system. Controllers typically do not rely on surface radar in times of good visibility. A surface radar by itself does not offer conflict identification or prevention information to the controller. Also, the surveillance information is not directly available to the aircraft pilots and vehicle operators on the airport surface. An automated system that provides aids to the controllers and surface status information to the pilots can significantly enhance the safety of airport operations.
Progress toward such automation and the prevention of surface accidents requires an understanding of the basic nature of the surface traffic problem. The surface traffic problem can be placed into three increasingly encompassing classes: accidents, high-hazard incidents, and runway incursions.
Accidents, though great in consequence, are relatively few in number, so an analysis of airport surface accidents benefits greatly by the statistical analysis of high-hazard incidents. High-hazard incidents denote those where at least one aircraft was at high speed, and where the minimum separation was 50 feet or less.
Runway incursions represent a larger class of events than accidents and high-hazard incidents. A runway incursion can be defined as any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in loss of separation with an aircraft taking off, intending to take off, landing or intending to land. Clearly, preventing runway incursions is an effective way to prevent airport surface accidents, and to do that a good airport surface traffic automation system must also be effective at reducing runway incursions.